PESHAWAR, April 25: A local court on Friday fixed April 29 for indictment of Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao on the charge of illegal exit from the country.

Judicial Magistrate Aqil Shah was to frame the charge on Friday but he adjourned the hearing as Defence Counsel Tariq Khan Afridi could not turn up due to his illness.

The court has already exempted Mr Sherpao from personal appearance and his being represented by his counsel.

Mr Sherpao is accused of illegal exit from the country after the military takeover when his arrest warrants were issued by the National Accountability Bureau in January 2000.

He is nominated in an FIR registered by the FIA Passport Cell on Jan 6, 2002, the day when Mr Sherpao returned back to Pakistan. He faces charges under Section 4 of the Exit Control List Act and Section 3/4 of the Passport Act.

The FIA claimed that Mr Sherpao had left the country through an unauthorized route which was a crime under the law. Last year, the court had granted bail to Mr Sherpao on condition of furnishing two sureties of Rs100,000 each.